“It’s ridiculously cheaper than other stores,” said Leah Berzon, 33, who shops at the chain’s East Village store at least three times a week.

Its name might suggest dented cans and outdated perishables, but the chain, headquartered in Berkeley and with 200 stores in six Western states, sells manufacturers’ excess inventory--not its rejects--at up to 50 percent off conventional retail prices.

Grocery Outlet describes itself as an extreme discount supermarket with a heavy emphasis on brand-name items. Think of a Ross Dress for Less, but for food.

And it’s catching on so fast among San Diego shoppers with an appetite for Whole Foods quality on a Walmart budget that this is one of the chain’s top markets for expansion.

Grocery Outlet’s shoppers, many of whom consider themselves treasure hunters, can get bargain-basement prices on everything from Chex Mix and Kashi cereal to artisan cheese and boutique-label wine. But they have to deal with a constantly rotating stock.

“If people come to us thinking we’re a traditional supermarket, they’re going to be disappointed, because our product changes dramatically and quickly,” said Marketing Director Melissa Porter.

That’s because the grocery chain, with smaller format stores about one-quarter the average 46,000 square-foot size of conventional supermarkets, buys “quite opportunistically so we get phenomenal deals,” she explained.

That means helping suppliers either get rid of surplus products, unload seasonal items and those nearing their expiration dates or simply test new ones. The result can be a hodgepodge of products, but it’s also how a store manages to sell a pint of blueberries for 99 cents or a bottle of wine at a 50 percent discount.

“It’s amazing,” said Berzon, who shops there mostly for organic foods and produce. “It’s such a gift. The prices and constant turnover keep me coming.”

With three new stores this summer alone, the chain is expanding rapidly in San Diego County.

Ranked No. 14 on Stores Magazine’s Hot 100 Retailers for 2013, the chain opened two North County stores in August and will open a third in San Marcos next month. The new arrivals bring the chain’s San Diego-area presence up to eight locations, with a longterm plan to operate 20 stores throughout the county.

San Diego County Locations

• East Village

• Point Loma

• National City

• Casa de Oro

• Poway

• Escondido

• Oceanside

• San Marcos (opening Sept. 21)

Grocery Outlet’s growth here, which will likely chip away a percentage point or two from the bottom lines of conventional supermarkets like Albertson’s, Vons or Ralphs, is fueled by a high concentration of people hungry for great deals on healthy and specialty foods, Porter said.

That is because the recent economic downturn converted even the choosiest shoppers into bargain hunters, Prevor explained. And much like with Depression babies, he said, their thrifty habits are likely here to stay.

“I think that there were a lot of bargain shoppers that were born during the recession and found their shopping selves, and I do believe that we saw some added interest at that time,” Porter said. “We also really upgraded our shopping experience and product quality during that time.”

Even with competitor Save-A-Lot offering up to 40 percent discounts on groceries at its six San Diego stores, the Grocery Outlet stores opened last year in East Village and Point Loma are outperforming all expectations, she said.

While the value alone is enough to get many people in the door, Grocery Outlet has another advantage, in that its stores are typically owned and operated by local families who are able to respond to their specific community’s needs.

East Village Grocery Outlet owner Steve Smith, for example, has found that natural, organic, specialty and health foods are flying off the shelves, so he has expanded his NOSH section. It is now 400 percent larger than the chain’s average. But Smith isn’t the only San Diego store owner who made that discovery.

All the San Diego stores are outselling the chain on natural, organic, specialty and health products, Porter said.

“What we find is that they go fast down there,” she said. “It’s like there’s a hunger for it.”

Sierra Rogers, 19, said she always gets her produce at the East Village store, because “I can save a few dollars in my pocket.”

Berzon said she does her best to spread the word about Grocery Outlet.

“I just make people aware that there is this grocery outlet that is not like a 99-cent store,” she said. “There are actually really good, healthy products that you can get for ridiculously cheap. It’s awesome.”

Grocery Outlet’s laser-focus on only the greatest deals frees it up from some of the headaches that conventional supermarkets deal with — like continuing to stock green peppers that have skyrocketed in price, simply because their shoppers expect them to always carry green bell peppers.

It’s a strategy that wouldn’t have worked 20 years ago, Prevor said, because people typically stuck to shopping at one store; now they get their groceries from several stores, much the way they shop for apparel.

Smith said that although a few shoppers express frustration that they can’t get everything at Grocery Outlet all the time, most enjoy the hunt for a new bargain. And the chain embraces its limitations, marketing them as strengths.

“Our motto is ‘Shop us first and save the most,’” said Nika Pons, owner of the new Poway store. “Because our inventory is constantly changing, and we don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver.”